Weekly Recap
It’s been a busy couple of weeks as fishing ramps up around the
region and we continue working through the MassTech installs.
Congratulations to the team down at Rutgers University for completing
all of the installs they signed up for through the MassTech expansion,
and thanks to Captains Jamie and Andrew of the F/V TNT and F/V Searcher.
Between the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, Center for Coastal
Studies, and Coonamessett Farm, the eMOLT team installed another 12 new
systems and responded to a number of service calls for systems that
needed software updates, new loggers, or other troubleshooting.

Figure 1 – Fishing vessels come in a range of sizes, and the
eMOLT program runs the gamut. This week, we installed systems aboard the
New Bedford-based F/V Retriever (A) which fishes for squid, mackerel,
and herring, and the Wellfleet-based F/V Annie and Joe, which fishes for
green crabs.

Figure 2 – (A) Captain Kyle with his new eMOLT system aboard the
F/V Grace. (B) Doug and Joey from Rutgers work with Captain Andrew to
set up a system aboard the F/V TNT. (C) Captain Mark and George from
NEFSC in the wheelhouse of the F/V Prevail looking through the online
eMOLT data portal built by Ocean Data Network
We’re also really excited to expand our network of scientific
partners by installing a system aboard the dragger R/V Gemma, operated
by Marine Biological Laboratory out of Woods Hole, MA. Thanks to Captain
David for having us aboard!

Figure 3 – (A) R/V Gemma steaming home past the drawbridge in
Woods Hole, MA (Photo credit: Marine Biological Laboratory) and (B)
Monomoy High School engineering intern Caleb works with Owen from the
Center for Coastal Studies configure the Deck Data Hub for installation
aboard the R/V Gemma.
This week, the eMOLT fleet recorded 170 tows of sensorized fishing
gear totaling 2592 sensor hours underwater. The warmest recorded bottom
temperature was 59.3 F in Nantucket Sound in approximately 8 fathoms
(red profile) and the coldest recorded bottom temperature was 39.4 F in
Bigelow Bight in approximately 55 fathoms (blue profile).
Seasonal stratification is visible in profiles from around the
region, with a thermocline setting up between 10-20 fathoms with the
exception of profiles east of Penobscot Bay (green and yellow profiles).
The temperature gradient is particularly sharp south of Rhode Island and
east of New Jersey. The purple profile out on the eastern end of Georges
Bank is inside of a large complex of Gulf Stream water where a warm core
ring is colliding with a large eddy.

Figure 4 – Temperature profiles collected by eMOLT participants
over the last week. The blue profile is where the coldest bottom
temperature was measured and the red profile is where the warmest bottom
temperature was measured. All other colors are assigned randomly.
Colored points on the map indicate where profiles of the same color were
collected. The small dark green dots represent other profiles collected
this week, but not highlighted in the plot. Note that the warmest /
coldest bottom temperatures measured could have occurred during gear
soaks, which are not represented on this profile plot.
Fishing Vessel Ocean Observing Network Begins Sensor Intercomparison
Project
Our colleagues at the Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (National
Research Council of Italy) have begun testing multiple sensors used in
eMOLT and similar programs around the world side by side to document
performance of these tools in real world conditions. Dr. Michaela
Martinelli and her team installed sensors built by NKE (France) and
ZebraTech (New Zealand) on a pelagic trawler in the Adriatic Sea. These
sensors along with others models built by JFE in Japan and Lowell
Instruments in the USA will be compared with reference sensors on
fishing boats and research platforms around the world over the next year
or so with Italy’s CNR leading up the analytics.

Figure 5 – ZebraTech (blue-green) and NKE (orange) sensors
attached to a trawl door.
System Hardware Upgrade List
The following vessels remain on our list for hardware upgrades. If
you aren’t on the list and think you should be, please reach out.
Note that this list is different from our new install
queue.
- F/V Kaitlyn Victoria
- F/V Kyler C
- F/V Noella C
- F/V Sea Watcher I
Bottom Temperature Forecasts
Doppio
This week, 69.7% of bottom temperature observations were within 2
degrees (F) of the Doppio forecasted value at those points.Observations
were warmer than expected off southern New England, Downeast Maine, and
on Georges Bank. Observations were cooler than expected southeast of New
Jersey. The model performed well south of Long Island and off Southern
Maine and the New Hampshire Seacoast.

Figure 7 – Performance of the Doppio forecast’s bottom
temperature layer over the last week relative to observations collected
by eMOLT participants. Red dots indicate areas where bottom temperature
observations were warmer that predicted. Blue dots indicate areas where
bottom temperature observations were cooler than predicted. Bottom
temperature observations are compared with the most recent forecast run
available before the observation was made.

Figure 8 – The most recent Doppio bottom temperature forecast.
The gray line is the 50 fathom line and the black line is the hundred
fathom line. Purple shades indicate cooler water.
Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System

Figure 9 – The most recent bottom temperature forecast from the
Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System GOM7 model. The gray line is the
50 fathom line and the black line is the hundred fathom line. Purple
shades indicate cooler water.

Figure 10 – The most recent bottom temperature forecast from the
Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System MassBay model. Purple shades
indicate cooler water.
Announcements
BOEM Announces Development of New Five Year Lease Schedule for the
Outer Continental Shelf
BOEM is asking stakeholders to raise concerns, identify existing uses
and recommend leasing opportunities in all 27 lease areas on the
Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf and Alaskan coasts, including the North Atlantic
and Mid-Atlantic lease areas. For more information, see the full
announcement from BOEM here.
Public comments are due by June 16, 2025 and can be submitted here.
Disclaimer
The eMOLT Update is NOT an official NOAA document. Mention of
products or manufacturers does not constitute an endorsement by NOAA or
Department of Commerce. The content of this update reflects only the
personal views of the authors and does not necessarily represent the
views of NOAA Fisheries, the Department of Commerce, or the United
States.
All the best,
-George